RC Scale Aerobatics
Mike Hurley, 11542 Decatur Ct., Westminster CO 80234; E-mail: [email protected]
I have two major contests on which to report. Both of these events, along with the Tournament of Champions (TOC), contribute to define the face of Scale Aerobatics (SA). Without these world-class contests and the people who run and sponsor them, SA would not be experiencing the incredible growth it has had for the last several years.
I've had to limit the content. If I listed all the people involved and the incredible generosity of the sponsors, I wouldn't have room for contest highlights and results!
If you are interested in more details, please visit the Web sites listed in the text or E-mail me and I'll send you the notes I have on the events.
In 2001 the TOC was not held in October in Las Vegas NV. Word on the street is that the TOC is scheduled for 2002 and may become a biannual event again. A new SA contest emerged on the scene in October that may serve as a TOC filler in the off years, and many of the TOC-level competitors participated.
The Tucson Aerobatic Shootout had instant acceptance among International Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) pilots and unmatched support, with a purse of nearly $25,000 in cash and prizes, and most of the major SA manufacturers participated.
The contest was held during three days and drew 60 pilots; there were 20 in the Unlimited class alone.
Several pilots came from quite a distance, including Ivan Kristensen and Bob Hudson from Canada, Fabio Trento from Brazil, and Karlheinz Ruf from Germany, sporting his masterfully hand-airbrushed 43% FMG composite CAP 232.
The weather was perfect all three days, with just a slight breeze here and there. The contest ran as if they had been doing it for years. Experienced IMAC judges ran the judging, and a sophisticated enhancement of the IMAC scoring spreadsheet for normalizing made scoring quick and easy. Michael Marcellin was the Contest Director, and Brian Howard was the chief judge.
The Known patterns were flown four times, Unknowns were flown Saturday, and a second Unknown pattern challenged the pilots on Sunday.
Friday television coverage brought crowds of spectators on the weekend. Freestyle was held Saturday and repeated, to the crowd's delight, on Sunday. Mark Leseberg Jr. flew a moving routine to a medley of music and voice clips highlighting the September 11 tragedy.
Garrett Morrison got his airplane and the crowd dancing to the soundtrack of Austin Powers. There was plenty of desert dust kicked up, with lots of action just off the deck.
Bob Sadler — The Voice of the Don Lowe Masters — came all the way from South Carolina to emcee, and he had the crowd's attention every step of the way.
Sunday afternoon, Jason Shulman and Chip Hyde performed demonstration flights for the spectators to a comedic rant by Bob at the microphone.
Jason took first place in Unlimited, with Ryan Taylor second and Chip a close third. Jason also took first in Freestyle, followed by Garrett Morrison and Mark Leseberg Jr.
More details about the event and the complete final standings can be viewed at www.timpa.org. A contest of this magnitude attracts the best of the best in all the classes, and the competition was fierce! Just one mistake sent you to the back of the pack, ’cause these guys didn’t miss a beat. What fun it was to be among these great people who are also in the top ranks of our hobby’s most skilled fliers.
I can’t say enough about the sponsors’ generosity. Everyone went away with something, and the winners in all classes had prizes valued, in some cases, at more than $1,000! It was amazing!
I was shanghaied at the airport on September 11 from attending the Masters contest, so Bob Sadler kindly wrote up a review for me. I don’t have photos from this event.
The Don Lowe World Aerobatic Championship (aka the Masters) was held in September at the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina. Qualifying rounds had just begun when news came of the tragedies in New York and Washington. After a quick meeting with pilots and judges, a decision was made to carry on. Many pilots who had planned to arrive later in the week were unable to attend because of logistics with air travel and the uncertainties of travel in general.
Everyone who could be in attendance had arrived by Thursday. The flying kept getting better, despite the 25 mph winds (usually not down the runway!) and the glaring South Carolina sun.
The first Freestyle rounds flown on Thursday evoked awe, serenity, harmony, and sometimes fury. Some of the pilots did push the limits of airframes and, a couple of times, safety.
Yuri Higuchi flew the gorgeous 47% Extra 330 he designed and built in just nine weeks. He took this airplane to the WRAAM (Westchester Radio AeroModelers) Show in NY and won Best of Show.
Yuri’s Freestyle redefined high-alpha flying! It’s hard to say how many seconds the aircraft was actually “on the wing” out of the four minutes allotted. His control and mastery of axis has to be seen to be believed.
After Friday the field was narrowed to 10 pilots, dropping all previous scores and starting with a clean slate. Saturday brought the Unknowns and some of the worst wind of the week.
Kirk Gray had won all but one round leading up to Saturday and was in strong contention.
Longtime Pattern king Ivan Kristensen was flying superbly, with strong form and symmetry.
John Gleason, who phased out two years ago, was a force to be reckoned with, and he had one of the best smoke systems of the meet.
Frank Noll, the winner two years ago, flew the new Carden Extra 330. Although he had only a couple of flights on the airframe before the meet, it seemed as though they were old friends.
Mike McConville had his big Edge screaming! His maneuvers were some of the prettiest. Russell Reel was back with his Godfrey Extra and some very cool Freestyle music!
Andy Pound and his caller/father Ron had some engine problems. The other fliers and pit crews rallied to Andy’s assistance between rounds to see if they could help out with parts or advice, or lend him an airplane.
Ransom Fairchild, noted for his elaborate Freestyles, including ground-based explosions, streamers, smoke, RC cars, and “George of the Jungle” pickup, excelled in his precision flying this year.
Peter Goldsmith flew a CAP of his own design.
The finalists, in order, were Peter Goldsmith, first; Kirk Gray, second; Mike McConville, third; Frank Noll, fourth; Ivan Kristensen, fifth; John Gleason, sixth; Ransom Fairchild, seventh; Russell Reel, eighth; Brian Hannah, ninth; and Andy Pound, 10th. For more information, go to www.joemall.com.
The Masters has always been about sportsmanship, helping others, promoting the hobby, and having lots of fun. The highlight of the event was when Peter Goldsmith won the Extra 330, the S2-150, and the JR 10X. He thanked everyone, then donated everything he’d just won to the Triple Tree Youth Challenge.
Though this year’s contest was marred by terror, the spirit of generosity is what everyone will remember.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
